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Janine Liberi     It takes some doing to get into the Forest now that the government is after August and Janine. The latter has seen fit to acquire a full-length mirror and bring it with her as they scope out the cave near the ruins of their cabin. As luck would have it, the forest fire that August set burned the roots that spread across the cave entrance, causing a minor collapse. At the very least, no agents would be able to 'pursue' them into the cave right now, so the secret of the warpgate is kept.

    Janine doesn't look well at all. More pale than usual, and she seems to be sweating. But with a tight grimace, she sets up the mirror against the cave wall. "All right, here's the deal." She jerks her thumb at Adelle, the girl under Sanary's care due to being targetted by the Changlings. "She can't fight, so keep her ass covered. We're going to the throne room, that's where her dreams keep pointing. In and out, fast as we can. I don't want to be there, or here, longer than necessary."

    She steps through the Mirror, and those who follow find themselves under the canopy of glass that is the Mirror Forest. The earth squelches underfoot as Janine heads for a clearing. Thankfully, space holds to the same dimensions, so the White Pig's clearing is the same distance as the burned cabin would be in the other world. Janine kicks the Pig's tree, causing it to squeal and come wriggling free from its hollow. "Castle. Now."

    The Pig looks spooked, but obliges. The trip through the misty woods is mostly uneventful, save a couple of isolated Shadow attacks. They're easily dealt with, and the massive, infinite palace soon comes into view. Fortunately, the path that Die Reisende forged previously has remained, and they only need retrace their steps to stand in the throne room. The great black chair dominates its environment with sheer presence, and all damage to the room caused by the great battle has vanished. But, the party is not alone.

    Another Adelle Kaufmann stands before said throne wistfully.

    "It's a shame," the Other Adelle begins, mimicking the real one's voice with a slight echo to it. "Your one claim to fame was being a minor pawn in some grand scheme you were uninvolved with, one that was resolved before you even knew what was happening. And now you'll spend the rest of your days an unimportant nobody."

    The Other Adelle turns to face everyone, revealing bright yellow eyes.
Sanary Rondel Sanary is on defense duty today as she leads Adelle along, keeping close to the girl while wielding a shield nearly as tall as she is. She can't help but try and keep a close eye on her after taking on the duty of watching over her, after all! "Stick close, got it? I dunno if it'll do shit against weird magic, but I think I can keep any solid blobs of... Whatever held back this way."

The Pig, too, gets a light wave and an offer of space behind the healer. She can't help being worried for the weird mind porker, either! Needless to say, taking on a meat shield role for their escorts seems to be Sanary's main focus today. She throws axes and healing magic around as needed for those isolated attacks, of course, but she's not going to go too hard on trying to chase anything down to finish off.

When they reach the chair, Sanary tenses up as she raises her shield in preparation for whatever it is the Other Adelle might throw their way. "The hell are you goin' on about? What's so bad about not having to deal with all this shit?" Sanary gestures at the odd throne room for emphasis. "Besides, she's been at the farm for a while now. I bet she'd do great in the pig farmin' business if she wanted to make her name there!"
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca also remains close to Adelle with her tactical shield raised and attached to her left arm while her MP5K is ready to go in her right hand. At the same time, she made sure to pack a few extra first-aid supplies as well, although she's not entirely sure how effective they might be in this world. Nevertheless, a good medic never comes unprepared. "Whatever happens," She says to Adelle in a voice that sounds reassuring, "It'll be OK. We won't let anything happen to you at all." She smiles gently.

Rebecca gives a slight smile to the Pig, before facing forwards again, eyes glancing from side to side to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. "Always keep focused on the overall area," Rebecca repeats to herself. "Especially when you're protecting someone. Anything can happen anywhere at any time."

When they arrive at the chair, Rebecca scowls a little as she steps forward with her shield raised in an attempt to assist with the defense. Unlike Sanary, who seems intent on making a bit of 'conversation,' Rebecca simply stands by watching and waiting to see Other Adelle has in store. Her eyes dart to the side occasionally as if attempting to keep an eye on Adelle while making sure to focus on the threat in front of her.
August Kohler August Kohler is here. He barely talks to Janine. This is because he thinks it's for the best, as he stuffs his hands into his coat, near the gun and the knife. She'll want to avoid him. She won't want to talk to him.

"Got it." Is all he responds to Janine, before stepping into the mirror, waiting for Janine to get the Pig to move, and then following him through the woods, where August fights off the isolated shadows. When they eventually get to the castle...

The redhead grimaces at Shadow Adelle, as she speaks. He almost moves to stab her head-on, but that won't do what they need to do. Instead, August turns to the real Adelle. "Step up to her and prove she's wrong. This /isn't resolved yet/. You want a piece of the action, you can still have it. Is that what you feel? That you're just a bit character in this stupid story?"
Lilian Rook     Lilian showing up probably turns to some sequence of events that amount a slightly bratty back and forth teenage equilibrium-finding version of: 'Hey who are you? Aren't you a Paladin?' 'Yeah and what am I gonna do, arrest you for saving the world?' 'You know the cops are after us right.' 'I know they're dumbass donut munchers, and this world is old and backwards enough that surviving that forest game is basically the only initiation to being qualified to go here.'

    Yeah she's heard enough about the whole thing by now. She is capable of doing research in faction accessible archives and doesn't need *everything* spoonfed to her, so she's not way out of her depth and going 'whoa wait what dis' at everything, needing to be guided around by the hand. Lilian, in fact, seems to take a forest made of funhouse glass and mirrors relatively in stride (though she refuses to touch the ground, apparently). The pig gets a halting "I . . . can't decide whether that thing is kind of cute or really ominous."

    She also looks like she could scarcely give less of a shit about Adelle, only so much as glancing in her direction when she is introduced, and then not speaking to her for the rest of the journey. Useless Extras. Escort mission. Fun.

    She seems to take on some level of elevated interest in the castle itself, at least going by how much she's looking around and how seriously she takes corners, doors, and blind angles, while taking moments to check out the upper architecture. Assessing the throne room is a bit of a wash though. Despite the presence of so much powerful mojo to sense, it's already been busted up really badly before she got here, and its BBEG is long gone.

    And yet, when the Shadow Adelle speaks the real thing's mind, Lilian lets slip a loud, kind of derisive "Hah!" before pressing her hand to her lips and stifling the rest, though she still doesn't try to look contrite about it. "So that's why she's here? Had a taste of the world beyond being an inconsequential little nobody in training for a role in paying off a boss' second summer home, and can't stop thinking about it, huh? Even though it was nothing more than you nearly getting killed? Even though you got nothing out of it and got sent straight home? You got the first hit free and now you're addicted to the feeling of being special somehow, huh? I can't tell whether that's hopelessly pathetic, or something that's *trying* to be determination but stuck working with the materials it's got in that plastic brain."
Janine Liberi     Adelle does indeed stick close to Sanary. They've been roommates for a while now, so she's pretty comfortable hanging out with the healer. August meanwhile, is right to give Janine her space. She throws him a single, filthy look upon his arrival before giving him the cold shoulder. Lilian is new, but she clearly knows the score. That makes Janine a bit suspicious, but she just snorts at her reaction to the Pig. "He's a massive coward, he won't do a thing."
    Adelle was already on edge about being in the Forest. But upon being confronted with her own inner darkness, she flinches back and starts trembling. When Sanary waves it aside, Adelle speaks. "That's easy for you to say... every day, I'm surrounded by these rich, influential people. And now I'm around people with superpowers, but I..." She hugs herself and says, "I can't do anything," just as the Shadow echoes the sentiment. "You can't do anything."

    The Shadow steps closer. It's now apparent that while it looks like Adelle, it is clad in a worn and threadbare maid outfit, stained with dirt and covered in patches. "Is she wrong?..." Adelle asks in response to August. She doesn't sound sure in the slightest. "She /is/ a bit character. It wasn't even her involvement, but mine that was important. At best, she is the prophet in the cave, and even then, she was only good for one."

    Lilian is far less kind, and her harsh words pound upon Adelle's back, making her sink to her knees. The Shadow becomes wreathed in darkness as her face splits into a grin. "I-I just... I wanted to be somebody. Something more than 'the daughter of the cleaning lady.' Those Changling things made me feel important but... oh god, they hurt so many people because of me. I should have come to you all sooner, should have done something, but instead I...!"

    "YOU DID NOTHING." the Shadow booms, its voice louder and higher pitched as it twitches erratically, swelling in size and power in response to Adelle's despair. "THE MOMENT YOU HAD A TASTE OF A GOOD LIFE, YOU BECAME OBSESSED. CALLOW, SELFISH GIRL. DROWN IN YOUR OWN WEAKNESS... AND DIE!"

    The Shadow is now massive, looming over the party. It's face has become a hollow void, and it's arms long and spindly, with razor sharp claws on the end. It hunches over, bearing on its back a massive bucket with a mop sticking out. It's maid outfit is now more prominent, and it staggers forward on bent legs.

===============================JUDGMENT REVERSED================================

--------------------------MANIFESTATION OF REFLECTION---------------------------

                                 THE LOWLY MAID                                
                        SHE WHO YEARNS FOR A SINGLE STAR                        

------------------------YOUR JOURNEY REACHES A CROSSROAD------------------------

=======================================XX=======================================

     The Maid lunges, swiping at Adelle with massive claws as a keening cry emerges from the hole where her face should be.
Sanary Rondel Is that what the Shadows are all about? Thinking back on it, that actually makes quite a bit of sense. Alas, thinking about it dulls Sanary's reactions a fair amount as she doesn't even try to offer counterpoints when Lilian goes hard on Adelle and the Shadow uses that to its advantage. The healer doesn't really even have much in the way of comforting words to speak for the trembling cleaner's daughter since.. Well.

It's not necessarily wrong. Right? Except it totally is, and Sanary laughs right at the Shadow as she moves to intercept the Maid's faceclaws with that (relatively) shield of hers.

"You sound so sure about that, don't ya? But here's where you're wrong..." The healer channels magic into herself and Rebecca nearby to keeping that healing juice flowing in advance while she uses her shield to try and hold it back from turning Adelle's face into a matching hole.

"We never went to a cave with her at all! And she's young. She's got plenty of years ahead of her to do stupid shit and make it big. For something trying to be her Shadow, you really don't know shit!"
August Kohler August just grimaces at Lilian as she says harsh words to Adelle, and as the Shadow fully manifests, he remarks to her. "That's why you don't do that!" As the Maid lunges at Adelle, August calls to Sanary to intercept because she's the Tank, and dives in at the Maid, summoning Dietrich with his mirrored bracelet. The black knight Persona appears in a cloud of dark grey and red, and then...

The mechanical buster sword moves to slash into the Maid, trying to deflect one of those claws and then slice through her torso. "Filthy Shadow...shut up! Wanting to become stronger, wanting to become more than you currently are...that's human! That's good! You should strive to be more! You should strive to be important!"

August laughs as he shouts. "Look at me. My name's August Kohler, and I went from nobody to somebody! If I can do that, so can she!"
Rebecca Chambers Rebecca shakes her head at Lillian's comments. "If people could actually put their foot in their mouth, hers would be all the way to her stomach!" She mutters with a sigh. "She needs to learn how to deal with Shadows more properly." However, Rebecca's thoughts are soon put aside when the Shadow fully manifests itself, and that's when Rebecca shifts her focus back to the Shadow.

"You're wrong!" Rebecca yells back at the Shadow. "We came here to protect her and deal with you!" She grits her teeth. "You won't have your way with her any longer!" The tactical shield is moved to the side slightly as Rebecca attempts to aim her MP5K at the Shadow. "We'e dealt with many like you before, and you're going to fall here too!"

With a three-round burst of gunfire, Rebecca quickly ducks back behind her shield after firing, making sure to keep close to Adelle. While she's a skilled combatant, Rebecca's primary role here is to provide first-aid if anything should happen to Adelle. Of course, if her colleagues need healing too, she can help out as well.
Lilian Rook     "Don't do what? Tell the truth?" Lilian replies to August. "If the idea is to accept that it's real, she should have to be capable of that much. I didn't lie." When the Shadow becomes a maid and the maid becomes a monster, Lilian draws her sword, florishing it with a spiral of black mist and red tracery, taking on a more serious posture. "And besides. If you really thought this would have gone down with a harmless, teary, reconciliation, you wouldn't have come armed and with bodyguards. You knew this was going to happen either way. You could shut up and thank me for helping instead."

    She actually hangs back for a moment, until the Shadow crashes against the shield put in front of Adelle, and then in no particular measurement of time at all, Lilian has already gotten to the manifestation's flank and plunged the blade into its side, aiming for under the arm to cripple its ability to grapple Sanary for the moment, and then quickly withdrawing the length of the sword and delivering a spinning back kick in the same motion, striking it with the heel of her boot at multifold speed to throw it out of engagement.

    "Just keep it off the girl until she feels like growing up. That was your plan already, right?" she says, apparently planning to fall into the role of brutally punishing each attempt the Shadow makes and the others counter.
Janine Liberi     The sharp claws press against the raised shields. In spite of how thin the arms, there's a lot of strength behind the swing. Its feet dig into the ground as the Shadow tries to push through them. Rebecca's gunfire sinks into the Maid's lack-of-face, hitting the back of its head and making it recoil in pain. One arm comes free, and then lunges forward to redouble its assault, but Dietrich lunges forward, intercepting the swing on its way to gouge the Shadow's torso. At the same time, Lilian is on the other side in a blink, stabbing into the Maid's armpit.

    It reels back, yowling before speaking through the gap in its face. "THIS IS THE WAY OF THINGS. ADELLE KAUFMANN, IGNORED UNTIL SHE MUST BE TRODDEN ON!" it jeers, before its hand reaches back and grabs the mop on her back. It swings, lashing out in a wide arc as toxins spill from it, staining the ground and corroding it. Again and again, aiming to strike at the party and making approach difficult.

    Janine has not joined the battle. She has sunk to a knee and breathing hard. Next to her, Adelle sobs. The Italian snarls through clenched teeth. "This life isn't what it's cracked up to be. I get that sounds hollow, it gets yelled at us constantly. 'Money isn't everything... but gather it anyway.' 'Fame has it's downsides, but let's shove famous people in your face constantly.'" She tries to get up, but her legs fail her. "But listen. You came to us in the end, you came to us now. You're honest, straight-forward, you know a trade. You contribute way more than any famous person. Right now, you're helping us save the world. Even if it doesn't get your face in the papers, you've done more good than any actor or politician."

    Janine finally manages to get to her feet, and Binacabella emerges to blast a wind tunnel through the poison. "Get her ass!"
Lilian Rook     Lilian leaps back straight away as the mop comes out --before it starts spewing poison, even, as if she expected the makeshift, symbolic weapon to be inherently more magically (psychological?) hazardous than the claws, even if just in its metaphorical filth. She gives the flailing cleaning implement a wide berth, drifting backwards ahead of it, zigging and zagging aside sprays of poison, eyes on the mop head the entire time, waiting for an opportune moment, or else given her abilities, more likely a specific cue.

    "She's not wrong, you know." she adds, given the luxury of listening and responding to Janine while holding off on the offensive. "I mean, you are pretty pathetic, but it's still true that even the most basic and poorly motivated of Enlightened people have more potential than the paltry heap of money and social clout that passes for power at the apex of the mundane world."

    "How special you desperately want to be is so sad that it's comical. Though, if you really think you've got what it takes, feel free to get off your ass and prove it. This primitive sort of spirit journey and trial by combat affair is what it is; it's the one means of selecting the worthy in this world. So, if you think you have enough backbone to handle it, it's not as if there's something better you should be doing. I won't even make fun of you if you die. Otherwise, just sit tight and I'll call someone up to wipe your memory later so you can go back to school."
August Kohler Lilian frustrates August, but he doesn't argue with her. He remains focused on combat. A toxic mop lashes out, smashing into Dietrich and corroding his armor, causing August to hiss in pain as he pulls back. "Let's try this instead."

The buster sword is turned into a chainsaw whipsword, as August makes some distance and starts lashing it at the maid. Once Janine makes her wind tunnel, August nods to her and then pushes forth with Dietrich, moving to try and grapple the chainsaw whip around the Maid's waist and start tearing into her.

"You want to be something more, grasp for it! Fight! Just keep fighting until you achieve your dreams...!"
Sanary Rondel With the shields holding strong and both her Persona and non-Persona wielding allies getting into the fray, Sanary starts looking for openings to get her own hits in. She flinches slightly as those claws strike against her wall of metal, and that healing magic churns around her arm to keep it functional against that pressure.

"A mop now...? Ah shit, don't breathe that stuff in! And don't lick it!" She shouts out in warning, putting extra emphasis on the latter for some odd reason while stepping back steadily and holding an arm out to try and get Adelle and Janine to back up as well.

"She's right, y'know. I don't think any of us chose to do the stuff we're doin' here, and most of us probably wouldn't if we really could. I sure as hell wouldn't have chosen to be blind without weird magic stuff wedged in here." She glances back with a brief grin, then waves her coat open dramatically to pull a tomahawk out with her free hand while several more drop out of it and clatter to the floor.

"Even the weird... Teleportin' cop lady's right. Kinda." Some muttering. "Even if she's an ass. Anyway. If you want to get some licks in, now's your chance!" She smirks and tilts her head at the axes on the ground, then raises her own before chucking it at the Maid. "You wanna do somethin' big? Gotta build up that arm strength, then!"
Rebecca Chambers The words that the Shadow says don't faze Rebecca at all. They don't scare her in the least bit.

What does get her going is the mop that is apparently intent on cleaning anything and everything in its path with a rather corrosive solution which Rebecca doesn't want to be a part of. Then she remembers Adelle and Janine, both of whom need protection right now.

Moving to try to cover them as best as she can with her shield, Rebecca looks to them and says, "Be careful and keep an eye out! You don't want to get close to that crap!" She attempts to fire at the mop in hopes of at least stopping it or slowing it down. "No time for Spring cleaning if you ask me!"
Janine Liberi     August's chainsword snags the Shadow and begins ripping into it. It shrieks and flails, lashing at the links with its mop to try and break the weapon. Sanary's tomahawk catches it on the head, causing a deep shudder to run through it. It slumps, taking a long moment to catch its breath, allowing Adelle to respond to everyone.

    "You do think I can do it?..." she asks Lilian. Her breathing is getting steadier. Lilian suggests that even if she is pathetic, she does have that potential. "The one means... money doesn't matter here." If she wants something more, she should reach out for it. He hand reaches out and takes one of those tomahawks Sanary has scattered about. "Gotta build up my strength..." she mutters.

    And now, finally, she steps forward and clumsily hurls the tomahawk at her Shadow.

    It falls short, because of course it does, she's never done this in her life. But the meaning behind the action, the act of defying the Shadow, makes it scream. "I don't deny what you say," Adelle says, wiping some tears from her eyes. "But it won't be true anymore! I'm going to try! I'm going to be more than what I am now!" The Shadow shouts in reply, "YOU ARE NOTHING!" "Well that makes you less than nothing!" Adelle shouts in reply. The Shadow arches its back to point its bucket at the party, before issuing a massive blast of toxic water. It's a straightforward attack, with plenty of openings. Now's the time.
Sanary Rondel That throw is awful. Part of Sanary wants to laugh because of course she would, but another part of her feels a swell of pride! "Over the head, then release when you're holdin' it straight up. Start with two hands, and we'll work ya up to one eventually!"

Sanary laughs while brandishing a larger axe and bashing it against her shield. "This is probably gonna hurt, but... Ah, it'll be fine. August, I'm goin' in!" She hunches forward slightly and glances back at Adelle once more, then charges right at the Maid with her shield in position to take the brunt of that vile water assault.

"Don't fall too far back now!" In her forward charge, Sanary demonstrates proper one-handed axe throwing technique again with a quick raise and fling, augmenting it with an explosive laser from her eye to propel the axe even further and faster at the Maid. "Just chuck it right in th-"

Alas, her desire to coach and comment too much leads to catching some of that toxic water right in the mouth. She sputters and hacks, then hunches over behind her shield while puking her guts out. At least she still makes for good waist-high cover?
Rebecca Chambers "You can do this!" Rebecca calls out to Adelle. "You've got it in you, even if you don't feel it!" She smiles a little, before turning to face the Shadow, her smile replaced with a scowl. "And as for YOU, I'm afraid it's time to bring the light to vanquish your horrible darkness!"

Rebecca looks back to Adelle and says, "Stay back and don't get too close! This is gonna get messy!" Unfortunately, Rebecca is right.

Some of the toxic water hits her shield, but some of it also hits her face, causing her to get a faceful which causes her eyes to sting and her mouth to get a horrible taste in it. Sputtering, Rebecca keeps her eyes closed as she fetches a tiny squeeze bottle and a cloth from her first-aid kit. Putting some water on the cloth as well as a spritz of First-Aid Spray, Rebecca proceeds to dab at her eyes a few times before slowly opening them, blinking a few times. It stings a little less, but the awful taste is still in her mouth.

"That was worse than the crap they served at Raccoon University's cafeteria!" Rebecca says with a scowl. "Enough is enough! It's time to finish this once and for all!" She switches to fully automatic and proceeds to empty her clip into the Shadow!
August Kohler Adelle manages to push forward and try and fight. August grins, but this is followed by toxic water splashing over Dietrich and onto his skin, scalding him and making him almost choke, as his outfit is stained and burned. "Shit!"

August pushes back, and then, retracting the whip, changes it back into a buster sword. "Let's wrap this up. A new technique."

The redhead boosts into the air, and then moves to land on top of the Maid, plunging the sword down into her. As this happens, it's wreathed with flames, as the sword begins to spin in Dietrich's hands, creating a vortex of flame. He's going to try and burn the Shadow out and do as much damage in one fell swoop to her as possible!
Lilian Rook     "Oh, I don't necessarily believe you can one way or the other." Lilian says, flat and airly to Adelle. "But trying isn't a wrong answer whether you succeed or not. Even if it's just because you can't hack it in the world of the unenlightened, trying to graduate into the ranks of people who have real power and are deserving of using any of it, is a fundamentally correct goal."

    "You can be self-absorbed and insecure, selfish and immature, but still make the right choices. You don't need a noble reason to take a higher road."

    The big telegraphed boss move. That's what Lilian had been looking out for. It may have been what she was fishing for with that rhetoric, even, as oddly serious as it had gotten just a moment ago. During the windup, she wrenches the tomohawk out of the ground and tosses it back to Adelle over her shoulder. "Try it again, idiot. This time with some conviction. I didn't hear you the first time." but then she doesn't instantly press the attack.

                -----[stop]-----
    Lilian, in fact, waits for Adelle to take her second throw, and when she does, she takes her private slice of time out of the fight while it's at the apex of its arc. She stops by to sight down its vector, calculate the tumble in her head, and then put her hand on it to correct its underwhelming force and rookie form, taking over with her more experienced hand to put it on course to at least hit the shadow with the blade part. Satisfied it'll make contact, she backs off again, to her original position.
                -----[start]-----

    It's only after Adelle does as she asks that she moves into action, and when she does, it's to rapidly fold a series of concentric, interlocking spell circles around her forearm, and meet the wave of fetid cleaning water, drenched in Jungian filth, with a wide blast of temporal energy that instantly boils away the water and punches a wide, clear corridor straight down the middle of the attack (lined up with Adelle), and then after that, thrust her sword into the shadow cast by the Shadow from the flash, and in doing so, skewer it from the inside with the black blade.
Janine Liberi     Adelle picks up the axe thrown back to her and listens to Sanary's input. Hefting the axe in both hands, she hunkers behind Rebecca and Sanary as the torrent of toxic water slams into their shields, watching as August cooks the Shadow from within. "But he's got..." She frowns, and shakes her head before rushing out and throwing the axe!

    She was looking away, so she does not notice any shunt in where it was in space when Lilian corrects its course in the stopped time. Instead, she looks up in time to see it bury itself in her Shadow's face, right next to Sanary's. "I... I did it!"

    It's more that August's spininng fire slash, and Lilian's slash from behind did it, but the fact remains. The Shadow crumbles, slumping over as darkness pours from it's form, leaving behind it's humanoid form. Adelle strides forward to stand over them. "I'm you, and you're me..." she says softly, before reaching out a hand. "But together, we can be more than what we are. We don't have to be a nobody any more."

    Her Shadow offers a defeated smile and takes the offered hand. The two begin glowing blue, as Janine does and August once did, the Shadow fading and recomposing intoa massive, floating figure. A tall woman in a red dress, her face hidden under a hooded shawl. carrying a long loaf of bread in one hand, and swinging an old pot-bellied stove on a chain in the other. Upon her back, she carries a vase of jewels. She does not speak, but a voice is heard.

====================================JUDGMENT====================================

                                   I AM THOU                                    
                                   THOU ART I                                  
                        FROM THE SEA OF THY SOUL I COME                        

                          I AM GRETEL THE WITCH-SLAYER                          

                       LET US BRAVE THIS FOREST TOGETHER                        

=======================================XX=======================================

    The woman fades into Adelle, who exhales in relief. "I feel... better." The Pig shuffles over (having hid the whole fight) and takes a sniff. "Lady smell funny. Like two people. Herself and..." It squeals, and runs behind a pillar. "Like the thing that was here before!"

    Janine looks to August for the second time today. That's a significant scent to smell.
August Kohler The fight is over, so August desummons his Persona, exhales, and moves over to Adelle. "You got your own Persona...congratulations. You can fight with us. And soon, we'll be able to return to the city, so we'll be able to fight more often." August sounds sure of himself. He really, absolutely, is going to commit this crazy plan.

But then the Pig comes over. And it talks. He has never, ever, heard the Pig talk. It doesn't exactly surprise him, because that thing's insanely weird and has a Persona, but he kneels down, squints at it, and flicks it in the nose after reaching the pillar. "Since when the hell can you talk? Then you can answer a question."

"Who are you referring to...and how long will it take you to track their scent and lead us to them?" Now that the Pig let out the secret that it can talk, well, August isn't going to let it go. They have more work to do.
Sanary Rondel That's more like it! Sure, the throw didn't look all that spectacular, but it worked, and Sanary's looking quite p... ukey. Yeah, no, she's still taking a moment to get the last of that toxic water out, but she does raise her hand in a thumbs-up to Adelle even then.

It's not until after the Pig speaks up that the healer finally finishes throwing up and shifts to proper healing/recovery duty once again. "Smart little fella, ain'tcha?" She chuckles lightly and hunches over to give the Pig a light pat on the head, shrugging at August in turn. "He.. Hasn't before, has he? Hmm. Hey, yeah, can you track down anyone else that's been in here that isn't in our group? Might not hurt to keep an eye out for that."
Lilian Rook     "Wait what the fuck the pig can talk?"

    Yeah that's what Lilian suddenly focuses on in that moment. She had something more thoughtful prepared after the finale of the event, but it completely falls to pieces when prodded by the mildly banal absurdity of the little pig having something to say about it too. She'd clearly kind of blurted it out before thinking it through. The fact that *the others* then look surprised saves her from having to try and play it off.

    "You're really planning on just going back to the city after all this? Well, whatever. She passed, she's alive, therefore by these archaic standards, she's fit to do whatever she pleases with it. It's her power." Lilian shrugs, apparently completely apathetic to the fact that it's going to be used by Watch-sympathetic radicals.
Janine Liberi     The Pig sticks its head out from behind the pillar. "Was too scared before. Making noise means death in the Forest. But you all are strong. You would kill anything that got in your way. So it's safer with you." It's still the logic of a coward, but at least it's communicating.

    But August's question is pertinent. 'Can you lead us to the source of the second scent?' The Pig squeals in fear, but eventually mustres a nod after Sanary soothes it. "Very very dangerous scent. But... I could follow it now, yes." Janine cracks a weak smile. "We got her. No more hiding. Adelle, you've done a lot just now." The girl cracks a big smile. "So when you fight her, can I come along?" Janine scratches the back of her neck. "You're a rookie, so I don't know. I certainly don't want to babysit you, so only if someone else is willing."

    Janine turns on her heel, and starts to stride from the throne room. "But let's discuss that on the way back. This place makes me sick."